Most Searched Cities Don't Match Best Cities For Relocation
by Blanche Evans
When the National Association of Realtors found that one in three homes purchased in 2004 were purchased either by investors or second-home buyers, real estate watchers became more interested in which are the "hottest" cities. But "hot" can mean different things to different people.
For example, two new reports suggest that the most-searched for cities online for second homes or vacations aren't necessarily the same as those touted as best for relocating families.
Escape Homes has announced the results of the more than 200,000 property searches made on the company's website during April of 2005. These show that nine out of ten homebuyers are leaning toward the South and half of those want beach towns.
In order of most popular searches, the results were:
- Naples, Florida
- South Padre Island, Texas
- Orlando, Florida
- Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
- Park City, Utah
- Destin, Florida
- St. Augustine, Florida
- Murphy, North Carolina
- Santa Barbara, California
- Napa, California
According to the website, Naples, Florida, and South Padre Island, Texas, remained the two most searched locations. Orlando, Florida moved up two positions while Destin, Florida dropped two positions. New to this month's Index are Murphy, North Carolina, Santa Barbara, California and St. Augustine, Florida. The most noticeable shift in the April Index was Park City, Utah, which moved up 5 spots on the Index.
"Park City is an active and growing four-season resort community only 30 minutes from Salt Lake City and the Salt Lake City International Airport. Along with three world-class ski resorts, we offer five golf courses, fishing, boating, and seemingly endless miles of mountain biking and hiking trails," explains Dennis Hanlon with Lewis, Wolcott & Dornbush.
Investors comprised 38 percent of the Park City home seekers, while 26 percent were looking for a retirement home, 22 percent were searching for a vacation property, and 14 percent were planning to relocate, explains the second-home specialty site.
On the other hand, when thinking of work instead of pleasure, the Employee Relocation Council and Primary Relocation worked with Bert Sperling of Sperling's BestPlaces to rate cities based on short and long-term relocations.
The ratings found that Washington, D.C., Boulder, Colorado, and Athens, Georgia are 2005's Best Cities for Relocating Families among large, medium and small U.S. metropolitan areas.
Worldwide ERC Executive Vice President H. Cris Collie, CAE, said, "Relocations occur for business reasons, but more and more often, they succeed because of a combination of family needs that are met."
The study lists the top 50 U.S. cities in their population categories, based in part on indicators familiar to all city rankings, such as cost of living, taxes, home costs/appreciation, schools, and climate. The rankings also consider criteria often overlooked, but helpful to have, once a family actually moves to one of these "best cities."
New criteria for the 2005 Best Cities for Relocating Families included nuanced climate criteria to give value to those cities where mild winters, mild summers, and plentiful rainfall combine to keep utility prices reasonable. Also included were elder-care and assisted-living statistics from the federal Administration on Aging.
These internal and external changes resulted in a number of shifts in the rankings. Washington, D.C. shot from #18 to #1, unseating Austin, which is #2 this year in large-sized markets.
In the medium-sized markets (pop. 250,000 to 500,000) Boulder, Colorado, held on to #1, with challenger Lexington, KY, moving up from #8 to #2.
Athens takes the prize as best small city for relocating families, with Cheyenne, Wyoming, a close second and Fargo, North Dakota, moving up from #3. Last year's winner, Yolo County, California, is ranked #4 this year.
None of the top best cities for relocating families were beach towns, giving new credence to the old saw that business and pleasure may not mix.